Monday, November 3, 2014

DIY: Homemade Laundry Detergent

Hello there all,

There is something that I love about this whole homesteading movement that is sweeping around. We are almost regressing and going back to the way things our grandparents did things. I love that because we are recognizing the purpose of why past generations did what they did: it worked. We are losing some of the craftsmanship and quality by our recent streamlined processes. Additionally, we are being horrible to our bodies, our wallet, and the environment.

One way that I have been embracing this homesteadiness culture is that I have been making my own homemade laundry detergent for the last couple of years. Yes, I know how granola I sound right now, but it legitimately works! Also, it is waaaaay cheaper than laundry soap which can get expensive.


You only need three ingredients and a couple of kitchen utensils. These ingredients can be found at any grocery store, and you can use the Borax and Washing Soda in a million different recipes for homemade cleaning products.
                                      

Ingredients:
  • Borax
  • washing soda
  • 1 bar of soap (I usually use bars of soap that I find in the health and beauty section which smell delicious to give my laundry a nice smell, but I have read multiple people suggest Fels-Naptha which can be found in the cleaning aisle with laundry soap).
Supplies:
  • Food processor or grater (I recommend a food processor if you can because the grater kills my hands)
  • measuring cups
  • Airtight Container for storage
  • Bowl (optional)
The steps:

1.) Break your bar of soap up to put into the food processor and pulse it until the soap chunks become broken down into finer pieces. If you are using a grater, grate away your bar into a bowl.




2.) Measure out one cup of Borax and one cup of washing soda.





















3.) (Optional) Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

4.) Put all ingredients into your airtight storage container. I pour all ingredients into my airtight container and shake it around to mix it. Who wants to mess up more dishes? Plus, this gives me a reason to Salsa Dance with my growler.





















5.) Store the container wherever you prefer. When it is laundry time, measure 1-2 TBSP of the detergent for each load. 

What homemade cleaning products do you make? If not, what has been stopping you?

-Autumn

2 comments:

  1. I've made my own liquid laundry soap. I should try the dry, it's so much faster to make. Does the fels-naptha dissolve well in cold water?

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    1. I haven't actually used this particular batch yet as I am using my last little bit of soap. My experience with the dry stuff and other soap is that in cold it dissolves differently depending on the washing machine. I had problems with it at my old place, but it works fine here.

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